Sheryl Crow will be 44 next month but it will be a smoking hot 44, based on the cover of Shape. Ms. Crow says she runs or bikes (outdoors) for at least an hour “every single day.” Doesn’t listen to music while running, but meditates and “gets her thoughts in order.” If not running, she’s biking with Lance. She cuts out early since LA typically does six or seven hours a day. When the two cook at home, they make a Mexican burrito for breakfast with cheese, salsa and Jimmy Dean sausage. She eats lots of vegetables and recently gave up caffeine. [Photo]
Yearly Archives: 2005
Christmas morning
Cozy fire. Holiday mix on the CD (Did you know James Brown did some Christmas songs?). Dogs playing with their new toys. Good smells from the kitchen. Santa brought me some nice warm socks, a cowboy shirt and some Tired Old Ass Soak. Barb received a Netflix subscription and some motion-sensor light bulbs. We might break down and buy a new TV after the Super Bowl when prices go down.
Best Christmas post is over at the Dilbert blog: “If you’re reading The Dilbert Blog on Christmas day, your family probably hates you. But that’s okay because I still love you. Have a great holiday. Or failing in that, just hold on until January. You can make it.”
Panel: “Revolution in PR Technology”
I’ve been invited to be on a panel at a meeting of PR professionals next month. It’s the “January Joint Meeting” of CSPRC/IABC/PRSA. I’m hoping to be able to pronounce the acronym by January 10th. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it interesting that none of these big public relations organizations are using RSS, blogs or podcasts. But they’re talking about it and that puts them ahead of the pack. Depending on the sound set-up, I’ll record it and post it here.
The Art of Demotivation
From the folks at Despair, Inc., a business book that’s “So Dangerous We Had to Put a Lock on It.”
“Ironically, managers attempting to motivate employees by increasing their self-esteem only compound the very problem they seek to solve. Reinforcing employee delusions of grandeur only increases their irrational sense of entitlement to the wealth, stature and privilege that justice dictates be reserved for the truly accomplished and inarguably worthy: namely, Executives.”
These are the same funny kids that produce the motivational calendars and posters.
Quality: The Race for Quality Has No Finish Line – so Technically it’s More Like a Death March.
I’ll share nuggets from TAOD here.
Unbundled Media
“The natural ability of the Internet to distribute unbundled media is disrupting broadcasting’s basic business, and that will accelerate in 2006.” (The Unbundled Awakening by Terry Heaton)
After reading this excellent piece, I can’t get the idea of “unbundled media” out of my head. Like all broadcast media, radio stations offer a bundle of content/programming. Music, weather, sports, news, etc. We bundle it all together in something we call a format and deliver it to the audience (in a very linear manner).
I remember getting calls from frustrated listeners demanding to know when I was going to give the school closing report (I had just given it 2 minutes earlier but they had missed it.) They couldn’t get it when they wanted it because it had to be bundled up with other content/programming.
For the past 20+ years I have worked for a company that supplies content/programming to radio stations and for most of that time, a big part of my job was to insure that our “stuff” made it into the bundle.
And now the unbundling has begun. iTunes has just about any song I might want to hear. Weather.com has my forecast. Cancellations.com (or my school’s website) has the cancellations. Same for school lunch menus.
And RSS means I won’t even have to go searching for all this. It will come to me. Wherever I am.
It seems pretty clear that most people don’t want their media bundled. They like to choose. A bit of a sticky wicket for businesses dependent on being part of the bundle. Is the value shifting from being able to bundle (TV and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, etc)… to creating the content that was once part of that bundle?
Sound trucks and book clubs
Reply
It’s happening more frequently. One of our sales reps gets asked about podcasting. Technical considerations (RSS, enclosures, etc) aside… I struggle to explain the conceptual differences between a traditional broadcast and a podcast. After it’s all said and done it’s just audio and that makes it easy to confuse the two. But let’s try this:
Broadcasting is driving a sound truck around town (or a thousand sound trucks in a thosuand cities and towns) with music or talk blaring from the speakers. Some people are paying attention… some or not, but we know that everyone in town could hear us.
Podcasting is a book club that meets every Tuesday night in the basement of the Presbyterian Church. We put a note on the church bulletin board to let folks know and they stop by and join the discussion if the book is interesting. If they have a good time, they come back next week.
The guys in the trucks want (and need) to count everyone in town as a listener. But we know exactly how many people show up for each week’s book club meeting. So, can we “advertise” or “market” to the book club? Maybe.
BAD: “Can you hold that thought for just a minute, Ralph? I’ve asked one of the folks from Piggly Wiggly to say a few words about some of the items they have on special this week.”
BETTER: “I’d like to thank everyone for coming out tonight. Before we get started, I’d like to thank Piggly Wiggly for providing the coffee and donuts.”
We (broadcasters) are quite capable of producing quality podcasts. And we’ll figure out a way to sell some kind of sponsorship or ads. But learning to listen to and really engage our listeners will take some practice.
BASF gets it
Remember when your insurance agent would send you a calendar for Christmas? The tech-savey marketing folks at BASF sent a few of our reporters 4 gig iPod nanos.
You spend the entire year listening to the needs of your audience. So for all of your attentive support, we would like to present a holiday gift that will enable you to hear our heartfelt appreciation. (Don’t worry – this gift doesn’t involve us caroling on your doorstep.) Since BASF is a leader in crop protection technology, we thought it would be appropriate to give you the latest advance in audio technology: the iPod nano.
It’s important to know that this gift extends beyound its small dimensions. You will have already received an email from us with a recorded holiday greeting. Now go to www.AgMediaCentral.com to hear the second part of our message, which you can listen to online or download to your new iPod.
This link also includes a few questions that will help us to listen to your needs. When you visit this link, you’ll receive an additional gift with our appreciation: a prepaid iTunes Music Card worth $15.
Trying Firefox. Again.
I’m giving the Firefox browser another try. Every clued-in person I know of and respect uses Firefox (or something other than IE). So I’m gonna give it another shot. I miss is the little “click” sound you get with Internet Explorer. I know it’s stupid, but I like the click.
Update: As is so often the case, Andy had the answer/link. I’m browsing with Firefox, now with the comforting little click. But now my little flickr badge doesn’t seem to be working. Must be a setting that needs to be changed.
Anniversary of first “right to die” case
December 26, 2005 marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Nancy Cruzan. Nancy Cruzan was a 25-year old southwest Missouri woman who was thrown from her car in 1983 when it flipped over. Paramedics found and revived her at leat 15 minutes after the crash. She never fully regained consciousness but did achieve a status that came to be called a “Persistent Vegetative State.” Five years after her accident, her family concluded she would never return to full consciousness. Thus began a long legal battle to have her feeding tube removed so she would die. The Cruzan case became the first “right to die” case to reach the United States Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 against the family.
Missourinet News Director Bob Priddy interviewed Bill Colby, the Cruzan family lawyer during the ordeal. Runs 30 minutes but it’s damned fine radio. Before the web, an in-depth piece like this would simply have been tucked away in a desk drawer.
Living Healthy (09) – Sleep
Some of Dr. Domke’s “sleep hygiene techniques”: 1) Get up at same time every day 2) Don’t take naps 3) Don’t go to bed until you feel sleepy 4) Your body will tell you how much sleep you need 5) Exercise best predictor of a good night’s sleep. Recorded December 21, 2005